What do you do when you have a paint that was once considered
one of the most important artist-quality oil paints in America,
but has suffered from an unfortunate history, resulting in its
once-great reputation being diminished by shifting ownership
and a business decision to compromise quality for the sake of
profit? How do you reclaim the paint and its place in history?
How do you restore it to its former glory as “The Compounder
of Color Integrity”, as promised in a period advertisement?
As with the origin of many great paints, Shiva was created by an artist out of personal need and passion. Ramon
Shiva was interested in making a fine paint for himself
and his friends in the late 1920s. Ramon’s son-in-law
saw the potential of this paint and encouraged him to make a
real business of it. During this time, Shiva had a sixteen year-old
errand boy by the name of Jack Richeson, who
made deliveries to the factory and was fascinated by the paintmaking
process (and a fellow who would eventually make his own
legendary contributions to the art supplies industry).
The paint took off: during the 1940s thru the 1950s Shiva became
the leading oil paint manufacturer in the United States, and
also led the world in bringing back casein,
a paint from antiquity we’ve discussed in a previous newsletter.
This vintage
ad, circa 1950, reflects a time when Shiva was the leading oil
paint manufacturer in America. The building at 433 West Goethe
Street in Chicago housed the factory on the first floor. The
Shiva family lived on the second.
During the late sixties, the company was sold because of illness
and the drive seemed to be lost. The quest for purity and quality,
once so proudly held by Ramon, was replaced by efficiency and
price control brought on by the new owners’ financial
administrators. In the year 2002, a lifelong dream of Jack Richeson’s
came true. Today Jack Richeson & Company has gone back to all the old formulas of the 1950s that made
Shiva oil the top brand in the United States.
Richeson is committed to producing the “Best of the
Best.” The return of Shiva has generated positive
response from some of the top oil painters in the country, including Ramon Kelley, Daniel Greene and Kate
Palmer.
Kelly Richeson
is in charge of the Shiva paint department at Jack Richeson.
Kelly coordinates all manufacturing & consults with their
chemist on every batch to assure only the finest quality paint
is produced.
Shiva uses only pure, artist-grade dry pigments, ground to
each one’s own correct degree of fineness and then formulated
individually under exacting laboratory controls. They are guaranteed
to be permanent, free from darkening, yellowing, fading and
cracking, and are bound with the finest grade of alkali-refined
linseed oil available.
Shiva oils go through a rigorous series of processes, which
insures an even distribution of the pigment and results in a
buttery, even consistency. Because great care must be taken
to avoid overworking the pigment, the amount of time required
for the milling process varies greatly for each color -- anywhere
from six hours to three days. Each color of paint that is made
must be treated individually.
Last in the process is “resting time” for a minimum
of 90 to 120 days before tubing, so that the pigment can reach
it’s maximum absorption level. Shiva tests the paint through
the resting process and only after the oil is determined to
have reached it’s prime is the color tubed.
Shiva’s commitment to provide only the best of
the best does not allow for short cuts.
